Labour urges Ihedioha to declare emergency on pensions

By Val Okara, Owerri

As the government of Chief Rochas Okorocha of Imo state winds today (Wednesday), the organized labour in the state has appealed to the incoming administration of Governor-elect, Emeka Ihedioha to declare a state of emergency on pensions.

State Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Austin Chilakpu made the declaration in Owerri on Tuesday while reacting to the deaths of three state chairmen of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners.

Chilakpu urged the incoming administration in the state to take the issue of pension as a priority by ensuring that issues affecting retirees were addressed.

“It has got to the stage that when any of the pensioners die, we will drop the corpse in front of the gate of the Government House, Owerri. There is no day that passes in Imo state without pensioners dying in their numbers.

“Pensioners are dying in geometrical progression and some of these retirees are still bread winners of their various families after training their children in the universities without jobs,’’ he said.

The NLC chairman who disclosed that one of the dead unionists was issued with a dud cheque while the other two died without enjoying their gratuity.

He further lamented that the outgoing government claimed that it set aside N5 billion to settle monthly pensions of retirees, but only less than N1.5 billion was utilized to settle outstanding arrears.

Adding his voice, a representative of the Alvan Ikoku College of Education retirees, Josiah Ugochukwu disclosed that three retired members of the institution died in one week.